Stories of Zeleca: Mian's Adventure part 1
by Enendar
Summary: Many years have passed since the events of the Redwall series. The planet of Redwall(Zeleca) has moved into a technological age. This story follows the adventures of Redwall City's champion, a mouse named Mian. (7 chapters, some violence and alcohol use.
1. Intro and Chapter 1

Stories of Zeleca: Mian's Adventure (Part 1)  
  
Prologue: Mythology of Zeleca (the Redwall planet)  
  
The planet of Zeleca is like Earth in many respects. The only differences between the two planets are history, technology, continental arrangement, and inhabitants. After the War of the Varl, a war that marked the passing of Zeleca from its medieval period into its technological period, the kingdoms and their archaic kings were replaced by city- states that now hold dominion over surrounding lands. The technology of Zeleca is far more advanced than Earth's technology. Whereas Earth has nuclear power and iron, Zeleca uses crystalline fusion and mythril. The lands of Zeleca are arranged into 5 super-continents, the largest continent, where most of the population lives, is Kedalia. Finally, the inhabitants are not human. Instead of apes existing and evolving into sentient beings, rodents and other small creatures claimed evolution and became evolutionary equivalents of humans today. Other secrets of Zeleca, will only be revealed by the stories of this mystical place.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
A lone mouse was in space repairing an orbiting space station as concerned members of almost every other race looked out from the transparent mythril windows of the station. He was in a strange suit that had large wings on the back of it. The suit moved about him like an organic form. He opened his communications device and spoke into it.  
  
"Salamandastron Command Center, I've found the problem." the mouse said expertly.  
  
The deep resonating voice of a badger answered him over the communications device. "Go ahead Mian, what is wrong?"  
  
Mian pushed the transmit button with some difficulty and spoke to the badger, "I got a bad thruster on gravity simulator one. We can't get gravity back until it's fixed."  
  
"We'll send out a shuttle to fix it, you'd best get inside. You are needed back down here." A reply was voiced quickly to Mian.  
  
"So they're finally going to take me off of space duty and put me onto something more useful?" Mian asked.  
  
"All I've been told is how much you're needed. Get back inside." the badger asserted.  
  
The mouse entered the station as repairs were made. The engines shuddered and creaked as gravity was restored. Mian fell to the floor on his back. "Owww!" Mian yelled. "Ya could have given me a warnin' down there!"  
  
The voice of the badger came across the speaker again. "You know the robots don't alert us when they're about to finish, Mian. They just give a finished signal."  
  
"Well you could upgrade 'em if ya wanted to." Mian rubbed his back a bit.  
  
"Yes, take the bullet back down here. You're needed at Redwall City immediately.  
  
The abbess didn't give a reason. I am transferring tracking of the bullet to them. Salamandastron space control center over and out!" the commander of Salamandastron, who had been speaking with him the whole time, closed as his signal went off.  
  
Mian climbed into a dive-suit and boosted himself lightly into a bullet shaped mythril pod with a single thruster in the back. The door of the pod closed and the heat barrier activated. A computer voice began a countdown.  
  
"3... 2... 1... Dive!" the computer voice droned.  
  
The mouse flew out of the space station on his long journey back to the city-state of Redwallia. His pod increased in speed as the outer shell stripped off. The thruster broke off just as he entered the breathable atmosphere.  
  
"Heat shields deactivated, you are in free fall Mian. We expect you to land at the mouth of the river moss." a female hare announced across the communications device. As he reached 10,000 feet, the bullet shielding broke away. The wings on the dive-suit opened quickly and curved themselves around over his head to act as a parachute.  
  
"This should be good." Mian chuckled as he detached a long flat object from the back of the suit and strapped it to his feet.  
  
The communications device beeped and the frantic voice of the hare came over it. "Your trajectory does not put you at the river! Mian, don't tell me you took the board  
  
with you!"  
  
The object Mian had detached was a type of hoverboard that was used in recreational skydiving. Certain modifications had been made to allow it to withstand a fall from orbit. The trajectory became more diagonal as he glided down using the board to stabilize himself.  
  
"Don't lose your head darlin'. I know what I'm doin!!" Mian almost laughed back over the device as his descent rapidly slowed. He took manual control of the board because its computer was not designed for such stunts. The mouse battled to get upright as he neared the ground.  
  
All eyes in the control station were now fixed on the screen as Mian moved closer and closer to the shore. Scared gasps and mutterings of "He'll never make it." passed throughout the room.  
  
"Coming in for landing, HQ" the mouse calmly indicated as he came in at a slant. He skidded across the water coming to a stop just where control predicted, the mouth of the river Moss.  
  
Another hare quizzically looked at him through the window of the transport that was waiting for him as the wings of his suit retracted and he took the board off of his feet.  
"That was a nice run!" Mian sighed as he climbed into the bus-like interior of the transport and sat down. 


	2. Chapters 2 and 3

Chapter 2  
  
The transport sped off down the main coastal highway at about 80 Mph. Chesha, the abbess of Redwall, approached Mian and spoke to him. "Mian, I don't want you doing that again. It's far to dangerous. You nearly scared the trainee who was running the tracking post to death."  
  
"You know I always love to make an entrance, darlin'." Mian said playfully.  
  
Mian and the abbess entered the city limits of Redwall City around 2 hours later. The transport flowed over the low neon-lit streets which had dark gothic architecture towering above them. Suddenly, after passing through an artificial tunnel, they came into the tranquil area of the historic zone. The transport hovered over the park surrounding the historic abbey which was the center of the city and came to a halt. They exited the transport telling the driver to return to the base. After the abbess let Mian admire the scenery a bit since he had been in space for a few months, the two beasts walked inside the old abbey's walls, past the touring children, down the stairs, through the worship rooms, and finally into the old back wine cellar of the abbey. The security guards came to attention as they passed. The back door of the cellar had numerous old looking locks on it.  
  
"Come on, Mian. You have a new mission now. We must go to the briefing room." Chesha, the hare abbess, told him  
  
Looking at her in disbelief he objected, " Wait a minute, sister. I'm happy to be back from the space station because anything is more exciting than that, but I just got back!"  
  
"It's very important, I can't talk about it out here. What could possibly be wrong with another mission anyway? Is the abbey champion, head of our secret service, not up to the challenge?" Chesha chided him.  
  
They moved the lock panel aside, revealing retinal scan entry locks and higher technology that did not look like it belonged in the abbey cellar.  
  
"You know I can't use those... and besides a champion should not have to open retinal locks." Mian chuckled at the abbess.  
  
Obviously steamed, Chesha sighed as she moved to the scanner. "Very well, I'll open it."  
  
"Identity confirmed, welcome back, abbess." the computer voice retorted as it activated.  
  
The door opened and the abbess and Mian went into the waiting elevator. The elevator lowered back down until the top of the shaft was level with the stone floor on the other side of the door, hiding the assembly completely. Then the elevator moved horizontally to a new shaft that took them 50 feet down to the underground command base of Redwallia operations. Mian was greeted by the raccoon team; they were the inventors and scientists of Redwallia.  
  
"Hello Mian, please sit here." the head scientist requested.  
  
He sat along with the entire team as a screen activated and began to play a video of what Mian needed to do.  
  
"Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is a long and difficult one." The head scientist began.  
  
"Oh just my luck." Mian said sarcastically.  
  
A slide projector clicked on and began to show on the large white screen in front of them. It was a map of Kedalia.  
  
"You must first travel in a wingsuit, a new experimental technology that we have leased from our allies, to the mountain Nightwake. The current ruler Darkstripe the 10th will give you a package to deliver to Basin Lake."  
  
A dot appeared on the map to point out Nightwake and Basin Lake. Mian interrupted, anxiously "Wait up Buddy, Basin Lake is closed to all, it has been that way since the before Varl. I even heard that the people there were altering themselves to make some sort of super-race."  
  
"We know that... but we also know that you can take them Mian." the raccoon continued the show, what appeared next was even less appealing. Mian slapped his forehead and sighed in aggravation as the show continued. "This will not be a visit of good will, you will steal one of their valuable ice cores and exchange it with the package. If you can go in undetected, you should be able to escape before they realize that the package is not a real ice core."  
  
Mian looked at them strangely but then settled back down. "That's pretty steep... you could start a war like that."  
  
"They won't know you're there! We know that your given powers allow you to not be seen so we can send you in." the abbess told him  
  
The slide show continued as Mian looked even more uneasy, he began to lean back in his chair.  
  
"You then must stop by Mosshedge for provisions and gear to survive in the main mission objective area, Gorath."  
  
The two new locations pinged on the map. Mian saw them and fell back in his chair to the the ground. He got up, not harmed physically and spoke to the group.  
  
"Gorath?!?!? You're really pushin' it man."  
  
"Mian, you always said you love adventure." the abbess wiggled her nose.  
  
Mian nodded. "Yes, but this is suicide."  
  
The abbess asked the scientists to continue.  
  
"There you will need to reach the volcano of Burath, and use the gear you receive at Mosshedge to cause the volcano to erupt. The castle of Iron Dune, the stronghold of our enemy, will be covered in lava. You will be given 2 days to prep for this mission."  
  
"I know I'll regret this one day, but I accept." Mian grumbled. "I'll be lucky to live through it." He left to prepare for his great journey code named, Operation Coldlava.  
  
No one had noticed a small spider-like instrument contract itself and fly out in the direction of Southeast.  
  
Chapter 3  
  
The land of Gorath was a savage environment: little water, hot days, cold nights, ground that was so barren and hard that not even a nuclear bomb could break the petrified soil. In the only patch of fertile ground sat castle Irondune. It's leader stared out the window as he looked at the device that had returned from Redwall  
  
"So, the woodlanders plant to move against me. We shall see who makes the first move." He growled  
  
The leader of Irondune, a Evil Polecat that had had many pieces of his body replaced with cybernetics to increase his life span plotted on how to stop Mian from ruining his plans to dominate Merth. He paced his chamber.  
  
"Only the strong shall survive, our evil master's order must go forward" a seer said as he entered the chamber.  
  
The polecat ruler, Mechladez, turned to him and issued his orders.  
  
"Inform Basin lake somehow... I will stop the woodlander's plan before it comes true."  
  
"Yes my liege" the seer said as he exited.  
  
"And don't screw up or I'll have your head." Mechladez yelled after him in an overzealous fashion.  
  
The seer moved down the hall sneakily and began to speak to himself. "Master thinks he is in control. He is only sitting wait for the prophecies... yes yes the prophecies."  
  
The temples in question were the temples of the 4 dark gods of Zeleca. Each dark god had their own harsh environment with their temple at the center. Galeed ruled over the glass desert, a patch of sand so sun- baked that it is rumored to turn to glass every noontime and then be broken back to sand by tremors at nightfall. The ruler of the bogs was Dedsier, a god that could supposedly shift forms into bog-gasses and control any of the rotted or dead. The gray wilderness was ruled by Loschia, a god who appeared in the wilderness as a crying child. The final realm, the black maze, was subjugated by the god of order, Levianed. Levianed was also the god which the fabled city of symmetry is based on. The Dark gods of Zeleca were once rumored to walk the mortal plane in the middle ages, around the time of the epic "War of the Varl", but they were defeated by one of Martin the Warrior's descendants. That defeat began the current era, the era of a cold war between Gorath and Redwallia. 


	3. Chapters 4 and 5

Chapter 4  
  
Mian was walking through the streets of Redwall City, it was amazing that over 1000 years ago it had been a single abbey with a forest surrounding it. Now the city was nearly 50 miles across and was home to almost 3 million woodlanders. The next day Mian would leave the city again. Suddenly a bottle rolled across the alley that Mian was going down, he turned around to see 5 weasels behind him.  
  
"Gimme your credit chit mousey" the leader yelled.  
  
"Why do you want my credit chit pal, I need it" Mian answered calmly.  
  
"That was not a request... it was an order pip-squeak." the leader yelled again  
  
"I really don't think you want it." Mian told him.  
  
The weasel approached Mian and started to raise a laserpistol towards him.  
  
"Give it now pansy" The weasel ordered  
  
"Oh.. you want to see it then... here it is" Mian said in an alluding way  
  
Mian pulled out the sword of Martin... one of the most ancient relics of Redwall city. The weasels began to back away. Two of the weasels fled.  
  
"Run!! That isn't any mousey... it's Mian." one of the others said.  
  
"Ah... he don't scare me just because he has a sword. I think all the rumors aren't true." The leader chuckled.  
  
Mian pressed a button on the handle and a chain started to rotate around the blade edge. The sword of Martin had been upgraded to an electrified chain-sword. The weasel dove for Mian and Mian smartly sliced him in half lengthwise.  
  
"Run!" the other weasels all said at different times as they scurried off.  
  
Mian shook his head as he turned off and re-sheathed his sword. "Weasels... will they ever learn."  
  
Mian resided in a medium sized apartment in the city. He was always traveling, so he never actually got to make a good home for himself. Small spiders scurried away as Mian opened the door and walked in. A pot of tuna surprise was lying on the stove, burned to a blackened crisp and still hot. He had left the stove on when he was last called out for a mission. Mian sighed, amazed that his apartment had not burned to the ground, and went to work cleaning up the place. In about an hour it looked somewhat clean again. He looked at his message machine.  
  
"157 messages... that's about right for two months." Mian chuckled.  
  
He started up a projector and holographic images of the senders appeared. Mian skipped through most of them because they were from anonymous female mouses asking for dates, even a few female hares and hedgehogs were on the machine.  
  
"Lets see what's on the news..." he said out loud.  
  
The TV turned on in response to his voice and went to a news channel. A female anchormouse was reporting from the desk on the completion of the space station project.  
  
"As usual, they give me no credit, but at least they paid me a lot for it." Mian chuckled as he looked at the anchormouse again. "Hah! She was on my message machine."  
  
The rest of the news was uneventful as usual. There was so much that the government of Redwall City did not show the general public. For a highly technological world, there wasn't much communication beyond the narrow city-state borders of Redwallia. Soon it was late night and Mian went to sleep to rest up for his next mission.  
  
Two days later, Mian was prepped for his long mission. He went out to the runway dressed in a new experimental device that was undetectable by enemy radar.  
  
"All systems are a go for wingsuit one." Chesha said as Mian got into the new prototype flying suit.  
  
The suit was a skin tight white suit which had very large draping wings attached to the back. Mian could take off and fly like a bird with this. Normally he would take a plane, but the new experimental piece was part of the mission. Mian was still uncertain about this whole thing, but he faced it with his regular overconfidence.  
  
"C'ya later, darlin." Mian said as he ran down the runway at top speed.  
  
Mian took off into the air and began to head northeast at high speed. He looked down upon the landscape below. People looked back up at the wingsuit in amazement, as they had never seen such a thing before. Mian was quickly over smaller towns and suburbs. Before three hours had passed he was beyond Redwallia's northern border which ended at the river south of Noonvale city. Mian decided to avoid Basin Lake as much as he could, so he flew out West over the open water until he was well out of range. With a flip and two spirals, he tested out the capabilities of the wingsuit and then flew on. Some time later, after putting the suit on autopilot and eating a sandwich in mid-flight, he flew down to the ground level as his wings curved to stop his speed.  
  
"That was fast." he took his bearings.  
  
Mian had traveled about 3000 miles in only 20 hours.  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Mian approached Nightwake, a mountain fortress surrounded by a river. The weather was barren and cold. No one seemed to live on the surface. He crossed the long bridge to get to the entrance and knocked on the gate.  
  
A female voice answered, "Friend or foe? We don't take kindly to the ruffians around here, buddy."  
  
He answered, "My name is..."  
  
The gate opened and a friendly looking face appeared. It was that of a beautiful young marlfox, her left arm and leg replaced with cybernetic limbs.  
  
"Oh it's you Mian, we've been expecting you. Let's go find Darkstripe, he shouldn't be far off." She led him down the hall and continued, "Oh, and by the way, m'name's Bunny." She laughed once at the strange look she received and said, "My real name's Bonita, but it just seems easier to call me Bunny. It's a family thing." She smiled sweetly and led him to a large door, one that would fit the both of them in very easily.  
  
She gave Mian and mechanical thumbs up and said, "Good luck, and be sure you don't get caught." She winked comically and a quick flame spurted up out of her cybernetic thumb, then vanished like in a magic trick.  
  
Darkstripe was sitting at a computer terminal. He wore a blue jumpsuit and goggles rested above his eyes. "I hear that Chesha is trying to stop Gorath... that's pretty steep." he said as he continued working on a device that was so cold it steamed at room temperature.  
  
"That's what I said, Basin Lake ain't a place to play with. I mean, I can become invisible at will ever since those scientists played with me, but who knows what the people there coulda cooked up." Mian replied. The wings on his flight suit had folded up and were resting like a small backpack on his back.  
  
Darkstripe got up and went to a large light board that had the words "BASIN PROJECT" above it. Mian followed wondering at all of the strange things he saw in the lab.  
  
"We captured a rogue who left Basin Lake nearly 2 years ago. I was reluctant to tell anyone what we found out about him. He died after we investigated. " Darkstripe shook his head as he turned the power on. X-rays of the rogue's body revealed that the it was mostly cybernetic. It even had a special skin and hair made from polymer strands.  
  
"Well these 'cyborgs' can't be tougher than my sword, can they?" Mian asked  
  
"Of course not... but cybernetics are not something you need to deal with, the nano-probes inside of a cyborg can regenerate faster than you can cut." Darkstripe replied as he turned off the board and went over to the device he had been working on.  
  
"Even you will have difficulty killing any of them. I'd even go as far as guessing that some of them are completely cybernetic now. You must take this device with you..." Darkstripe handed him a fake ice core. It wasn't cold to the touch, but it still steamed as if it were. "... and exchange it with one of the cores in their power plant. The basin is powered by a reverse geo-thermal reaction. As soon as you exchange the core, the power in at least an eighth of the basin will be lost. This will definitely alert the warriors who guard the basin of your presence. Once you are done, bring the core back to me and I will have my people get you something safe to carry it in for your trip to Gorath."  
  
Mian took the fake core, thanked Darkstripe, and was about to walk out when he was stopped.  
  
"Wait, he'll never make it in there by air. They will see him no matter if he is wearing a wingsuit." Bunny said as she walked in. She had been listening from outside the room.  
  
"Well when did you get in here?" Darkstripe asked. "We'll have to take him by the old road." he walked over to a wall in his lab and picked up three large laser rifles.  
  
"You are serious?" Bunny questioned.  
  
"Dead Serious." Darkstripe said as he put the rifles in the chargers. "We leave tomorrow morning."  
  
In the downtime before the morning, Mian sat in one of the private dining halls with Bunny and ate dinner. They both had baked catfish with salad and garlic toast. Bunny had only water to drink while Mian was busy taking down malt beer by the can. One advantage of being a mouse was a high resistance to damage from the consumption of large amounts of alcohol.  
  
"So why did Redwallia send you? What is so special about you?" Bunny asked.  
  
Mian shrugged, chugged the rest of his can, and then asked calmly, "What's your international security clearance?"  
  
Bunny giggled and took out a card. "General Bonita thank you very much, top secret or better."  
  
Mian slapped himself on the forehead and then laughed about the situation himself. "A general?? I guess we find out new things a lot. Well... " Mian looked around the room habitually for cameras or listening bots and then continued. "I am the abbey champion of Redwall, strongest warrior in their guard and also head of the secret service."  
  
Mian suddenly disappeared right in front of Bunny's eyes as his speech trailed off.  
  
"Umm... Mian? Where did you go?" Bunny asked as she suddenly felt her ears being tweaked. "Hey! Don't do that!"  
  
Mian re-appeared in his seat laughing like there was no tomorrow. "Oh I love doin' that to guys with top secret clearance. Anyway, I should tell ya. I can go invisible when I want because of some implants that the science department of the service gave me. This power has gotten me out of a lot of tight spots, and gotten me into worse ones sometimes."  
  
"Oh.. well that's much more exciting than my life. I got up to this rank very, very quickly because of my role in several small engagements and because of my friendship with Darkstripe. It may not seem fair achieving a rank that way, but I have proven I can do the work of a general at a young age." Bonita giggled that she was letting so much information go to almost a complete stranger.  
  
"How old are you anyway?" Mian asked.  
  
"Ummh... about... 28."  
  
"Wow!" Mian exclaimed as he fell back in his chair again, thankful that the wall stopped him from falling back too far this time. "Well I'm only 32, so I guess it's possible."  
  
They both pushed their plates aside, got up, and walked to the door. Bonita opened the door for Mian and then spoke to him. A lady opening a door for a man was something quite uncustomary in Redwallian society. "You'll need sleep for tomorrow, go to the bunk that Darkstripe assigned you."  
  
"Is that an order General Bonita?" Mian asked playfully.  
  
"Oh come on, my name is Bunny! BUNNY!" she said back in faked rage.  
  
"OK, General Bunny." Mian played back.  
  
"What the... oh go on." Bunny pushed Mian out of the door and then closed it "Oh he is so irresistible." she giggled to herself.  
  
Mian's voice came from the other side of the door. "Oh I know I am! Ha ha!"  
  
Mian walked off down the hallway laughing to himself over his good evening.  
  
He posted up for the night with some magazines and beer in the officer's room that Darkstripe had assigned to him. 


	4. Chapters 6 and 7

Chapter 6  
  
The next morning Mian met Darkstripe and Bunny outside of a very large and ornate door. Darkstripe and Bunny were armed to the teeth and carrying the large laser rifles that Darkstripe had sent to charge the day before.  
  
"Are we going hunting?" Mian asked.  
  
"Just about... get the third gear pack over there and put it on." Darkstripe ordered.  
  
Mian did as he was told and Darkstripe went to the large door and entered a code. The doors opened to reveal a very large elevator, all three of them stepped inside the elevator as it began to descend.  
  
"Where are we going?" Mian asked.  
  
"The old road." Bunny told him.  
  
"What is the old road?" he asked again, frustrated at how secretive they were.  
  
"Just be patient, mouse. You will find out soon enough." Darkstripe warned.  
  
The elevator had no sides, only a rail that came up to his shoulder and Darkstripe's waist. Darkstripe walked over to the side that was opposite to where the door originally was and stood there silently. Mian began to notice light from below. Without warning the walls of the shaft ended. The three were freely descending over what seemed to be a landscape from a painting. A gigantic cavern with light coming from a source on the cavern roof. Trees, plants, beaches, lakes, mountains, cities full of gothic skyscrapers all illuminated in the blue-cast light that passed slowly across the cavern sky like a star.  
  
"My God, an underground world!" Mian gasped as he looked over the rail.  
  
"I present to you the underground kingdom of Nigh-Durum, my kingdom. The safest place in all of Zeleca." Darkstripe, the king of Nigh-Durum said proudly.  
  
"I didn't know these places existed, they're only legend." Mian was still in complete shock.  
  
After staring at the expansive kingdom during the descent Mian noticed that the elevator had reached the bottom. Bunny led the other two beasts for a while through the parks and down to a launch pad that had a waiting military hovercraft upon it. Mian was like a child who was first seeing a big city. He was looking everywhere, trying to absorb all he saw.  
  
"Take us to the old door." Darkstripe ordered the driver.  
  
"Do you concur with this, General Marl?" an officer in the other front seat of the vehicle asked Bunny.  
  
"Yes Major. We are armed well enough." Bunny replied.  
  
"Going hunting then?" the major asked.  
  
"No... just passing through." Bunny said cooly.  
  
"Passing... through. P... Procedure demands that you take a heavily armed escort for that!" the major replied, almost stuttering.  
  
"Very well, but they might not be returning. The fewer people we take through the old road, the better chances we have of survival." Bunny continued talking as Mian began to look worried over all of the things she said.  
  
"I know, but no one can override the original rules set down by Darkstripe the first. We must send an escort." the major said gravely  
  
After a short stop by one of the bases to pick up a platoon of twenty heavily armed elite troops, they connected with one of the high speed rail lines. A high speed rail line was a quick way to get from one end of the kingdom to another. It would send a hovercraft down the tracks at over 170 miles per hour.  
  
"Sir, we need the access codes to open the track extension to the old road." The major confronted Darkstripe.  
  
Darkstripe quickly put in the codes as everyone belted in so that they would not be thrown to the back of the car as the hovercraft accelerated. They shot off down the track towards the old road. Mian had learned better than to ask questions about what was going on, so he simply sat and waited for the trip to end. Soon the forces of movement and the gentle rumbling of the craft forced Mian to fall asleep.  
  
Chapter 7  
  
"Mian wake up... we are here." Bunny tapped him playfully with her mechanical arm.  
  
Mian got up groggily and stumbled to the door. "Man, those beers can take it out of you!"  
  
Darkstripe was standing outside, he gave Mian some fizzy water to wake him up as he approached a small door against a large barren wall. They were in the underground mountain range on the very far east side of Nigh- Durum.  
  
"Listen Mian, I must now explain what we have to do. We must pass through this end of the mountain range. If we make it through, you can be granted safe passage into the caverns beneath Basin Lake." Darkstripe checked his rifle and continued. "This passage was used countless ages ago when Basin Lake and Nightwake were allies. Far darker things than we beasts ever could imagine exist in this cavern. That is why we must be on guard and take a platoon with us." He took out an archaic key and unlocked the door.  
  
"What do we do if we don't hear from you sir?" the major asked.  
  
"If you don't hear from me, than there is no 'me' left and rule will pass to my son. Give us ten days to get back here. That should be more than enough." Darkstripe ordered.  
  
The party of twenty-three entered the caverns of the old road. The path was six feet wide and one side dropped off into the murky depths. The only illumination in the cavern came from four lights held by members of the fighting platoon. The party proceeded with caution, making very slow progress. The first day and night passed uneventfully as they traveled through several tight spots and wide caverns.  
  
"So why didn't you just extend the kingdom through here?" Mian asked Darkstripe. "They seem like perfectly useable caverns."  
  
"Lets hope that you never have to find out." The king of Nigh-Durum whispered back.  
  
The second night camp was made by a dank underground lake. Mian sat on the shore alongside Bunny and ate his meal while he chatted with her once more.  
  
"So... how did the arm and the leg happen?" Mian pointed at Bunny's cybernetics.  
  
"Well... they aren't really that permanent. I was burnt in a battle at the lava lake and I had to get these to keep what was left of my real arm and leg working. I still have bones and such under them but actually I think the smooth polymer skin that these have is kinda attractive versus the fur all over the rest of me." She replied cheerfully.  
  
"So they are just arms and legs? Nothing special?" Mian asked.  
  
"Well... I don't like to show off such things. Let's just say they've gotten me out of many tight spots." Bunny was obviously secretive about the arm and leg.  
  
"Damn it." Mian said as he picked up a stone and started rolling it around in his hands.  
  
"What's wrong?" Bunny inquired.  
  
"Everyone is just so damn secretive around here and it is driving me completely crazy. What's so special about an empty cavern or a old road!" He released his built-up frustration by throwing the stone hard across the water.  
  
Darkstripe jumped up and drew out his gun. "What was that noise?"  
  
Bunny expertly covered for Mian. "It was a rock, it tipped off of the edge of the platform we are on."  
  
"Quick, wake up the..." Darkstripe was stopped in mid-sentence as something swooped through the camp and took away one of the guards. Darkstripe took stock of the situation and quickly continued in a booming voice. "Everybody wake up we have wingers incoming!"  
  
The guards awoke slowly but sped up suddenly as another flying creature came through and took a guard. Horrid crunching noises could be heard from off in the blackness where the guards had been taken. Darkstripe readied his laser rifle and started taking shots into the distance. Faint splashes marked the fall of the flying creatures into the water.  
  
"This is why we cannot use this place, Mian. It is the kingdom of the wingers, giant intelligent bats, and we are trespassing. Get your rifle out!" Darkstripe yelled over the sound of laser pistols firing into the distance and shrieks of more winger guards awaking from their long sleep.  
  
The tunnels on either side of the platform they were on glowed with a bit of an eerie green light as guards who were walking on the small clawed hands halfway down their wings approached. The guards had soft green-tinted lamps hanging from one footpaw and repeating crossbows hooked to the other. As soon as the first one cleared the tunnel wall Darkstripe took aim and began firing.  
  
"Shoot the ones at the tunnels first! They have projectiles!" Bunny yelled across the battle as the guards took aim. The change of aim was of no avail. The flying guards swooped down and picked off six more of the now dwindling elite fighting platoon.  
  
Mian was busy focusing fire on the tunnels when he saw something larger than the other guards fly overhead. It slammed itself down on the center of the platform, taking out the rest of the guards and snuffing out three of the lights. The cavern became increasingly green tinted with the loss of the white camping lights. The crossbow carrying guards backed up far enough to block the exits and bowed their heads in reverence.  
  
Darkstripe spoke quietly to Mian from across the platform. "It appears to be the champion. Draw your sword. They will respect us if we beat them in single combat."  
  
"And I gotta fight him. Why?" Mian questioned.  
  
"Because Darkstripe has too much of an advantage and they will not fight females in single combat." Bunny said as she sat down in a huff.  
  
Mian drew his sword, it did not glimmer as it normally would because of the green light. The champion of the winger guard seemed to chuckle a bit that a mouse was going to defeat him with a sword. Two buttons were positioned on the hilt of the sword, Mian pressed them both as he gripped down on the hilt. The sword crackled to life with electricity as a chain started moving around the edge of it as a saw's chain would. The winger now looked more serious and made the first attack by spitting goo at Mian's eyes.  
  
"Look out Mian!" Bunny said as Mian expertly dodged the slime.  
  
The winger champion and Mian locked into combat, Mian struck out against armored wings with his sword as the winger attempted to bludgeon him to death with the wings. The battle continued for quite some time, the other wingers making various squeaks and chips to cheer on their champion. The champion started vaulting into the air and attempting to crush Mian. This unwise attempt was what Mian was looking for. He sliced the champion across its chest as it took off. The wingers shrieked in horror as their champion was knocked back by the shock. Taking to the air, the champion screeched in laughter back because now he thought he would have an advantage.  
  
"Oh that's playing dirty... wait." Man pressed a button on his suit and the wings extended. He took to the air with the same agility as the winger.  
  
Every winger shrieked in horror again at the wingsuit, it obviously brought up some bad memory for them. The champion was coming back through and could not see Mian anywhere on the platform. He slowed to look about because although they had some sonar, the wingers could see. Mian came crashing down from the cavern roof driving his sword down through the champion and landing them both onto the platform. Mian ripped his sword out to the side causing it to saw a large gaping tear through the heart of the winger champion. The champion fell to the ground and went limp.  
  
"They will respect you now... but hide those wings quickly." Darkstripe said as he pressed the button on Mian's suit for him. "Cut off the lead claw on the champion's footpaw."  
  
Mian did as he was told and the wingers cleared the tunnel for them. Bunny lead the party out and through the last passage to the door that marked the entry to the depths of the basin's caverns.  
  
"Go on, Mian." she instructed him  
  
"You can't come further?" Mian asked.  
  
"No. We must stay within their kingdom until we get back to our side. If we leave here and come back in, then we are no longer protected by your defeat of their champion. They have many complicated rules like that." Darkstripe finished the explanation for Bunny.  
  
"Goodbye... I'll be back before ya know it." Mian said as he went invisible and walked into the depths of the basin.  
  
Some time passed before Bunny and Darkstripe began to walk back towards the old door. They were not troubled by the wingers as they went on in their journey.  
  
"Do you think he's crazy for accepting this mission?" Bunny asked Darkstripe.  
  
"Certifiably. I think Chesha is even more insane for thinking up this stunt." Darkstripe commented.  
  
"So do you think that Mian caught on about why the wingsuit was so significant here?" Bunny asked again.  
  
"Not a chance in Hell. He was too busy fighting and he shouldn't have to know. We need to get a move on and get back to the door" Darkstripe picked up the pace as they traveled on, one light leading them and one invisible mouse that they left behind to carry out the first step of the most dangerous mission of his life. 


End file.
